In the period of relative material scarcity, people often eat leftovers and leftovers for a second time. There is even a traditional saying that this is a way to accumulate blessings.
But there is a way in Buddhist culture called "almsgiving". It is to give leftovers to some invisible beings.
Many people think that this is a superstition, but in fact, in combination with modern science, it is actually a way of wisdom.
01
Modern science believes that eating leftover food for a long time is indeed harmful to health and not beneficial.
First of all, it can significantly affect the appetite of the person. Eating leftovers tastes poor, is very anorexic, and can affect people's appetite.
Secondly, eating leftover food for a long time can lead to malnutrition. When leftover food is left at night, many nutrients are destroyed, and the nutrition is unbalanced, and eating it for a long time can cause malnutrition.
Thirdly, the bacteria produced by food spoilage can seriously affect human health. Especially in the summer, high temperature will aggravate food deterioration, and even mold, which is extremely bad for the human body.
Eventually, severe cases can cause food poisoning. The corresponding substances in the food will change, and human consumption can cause illness and death.
02
A porridge and a meal are not easy to come by. Chinese food culture has a long history, and the spirit of reverence for the difficulty of obtaining food has been passed down to this day.
As a small family, many older generations will often process and eat the leftover food from the previous meal or several meals. This is the experience of people in times of extreme material scarcity. It's a desperate move.
For example, there is a tradition left in various places that some places must eat leftovers before the Chinese New Year's Eve, and in some places, they even eat some leftovers on the first day of the new year.
These are some bad habits in traditional culture, and with the gradual development of the economy, people are gradually changing the status quo.
03
In film and television dramas, there are often such scenes: the monks will have a mouthful left at the end of their meal, in order to feed the starving beings who cannot see the four lives and six realms.
In Buddhist culture, leftover rice is also used as almsgiving.
Leaving aside the Buddhist concept of giving food to all living beings, this approach is reasonable in two ways:
First, it is a very meaningful ritual to express our compassion for all beings and our gratitude for the source of our food.
Second, from a scientific point of view, forced leftovers, in particular, are harmful to human health. This approach seems to be a modern method of wisdom.
From this point of view, the Buddhist culture's method of dealing with leftovers is really a method of accumulating blessings.